The Irish Traditional Music Session in Sømådalen 13. - 14. june 2003

Last year in the beginning of June me and Kerstin spent a long weekend in our cabin in Tolga in Østerdalen. The weekend lasted so long that we needed some food supply, so we decided to drive to Sweden. There certainly are loads of shops much closer to the cabin than the 200 kilometers we would have to drive to Sweden and Swedish beer is really "f...... close to water", it contains only 3,5 % alcohol, but foreign countries are always more exciting when on holiday and on holiday we were, so off we went. Two hours drive took us to the little town of Idre and we stocked up some food and some of that close-to-water thing, but avoided the Swedish national dish "Surstrømming" which is rotten herring. On our way back, finally crossing the border to the old country we had a short break outside a shop because Kerstin wanted some ice cream. The shop was closed, but since we had stopped in Sømådal we felt like doing something and because there was nothing else to do we just took a good look at the shop. And then something caught my attention. On the corner of the shop, among all kinds of posters and notes there was this one small poster. There was someting familiar with those colours, green, white and orange and a closer inspection showed the fonts to be of the type celtic, and the letters said "Irish Traditional Music Session Weekend in Sømådal 13. - 14. June 2003". To be honest, it was the last thing I would have expected to see in this rather remote part of Norway. June 13th would be next weekend, so to shorten the story a bit, on Friday we went back to Sømådal. "Only" 360 km from Trondheim, but as time would show, it was worth it.

The Session Weekend were held at Johnsgård turistsenter, a farm and tourist center which caters for mountaineers and fishermen in the summer and skiers in the winter. There are cabins and boats to let, there are guided fishing trips and walks to the nearby peaks and loads of other things to do, and there is a restaurant. The farm is located by the lake Langsjøen and the view of the lake and the mountains is spectacular. The background for the session weekend is, to make it very short, that the farmer's wife Grete out of curiosity wanted a trip to Ireland as her 40th birthday present. She went there, ended up in Dingle, Co. Kerry, bought a CD with "Sessions From The Hearth" and that was it.

Look out for details on  Johnsgård turistsenter and Sessions From The Hearth.

Friday afternoon, warming up outside the hut.	Jan Ole Johnsgård at the entrance.
The band "Eau De Vill" with guest guitarist is warming up the crowd.	"Sessions From The Hearth" in full flight.
	Porridge and fish eating competition.
Dishing up for the final round.	The Irish team (Triona and Martin) prequalified for the finals.
I found a box, Des seems to be very amazed.	Boxplayer Per Johan Moslet from Selbu, myself and Swedish fiddler Mathias Helje.
They're joined by Kerstin for the last tune, around 6.00 am.	Saturday afternoon. The Party Bus on it's way to the Community Hall.
"Sessions From The Hearth" again.	And joined by me.
The Party Bus on the way back.	Sunday morning 4.00 am.
A grand weekend it was!!!

It has happened again. "Session Weekend in Sømådalen"  August 20th - 21th 2004 is just finished. There was traditional Irish and Norwegian music, sessions, set-dancing, workshops, a bit of rain and loads of fun. See some photos here.

[Home]